


Unforgivable

by arobynsung



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling
Genre: Angst, F/F, epilogue compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-10-22
Updated: 2008-10-22
Packaged: 2017-10-05 18:31:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/44764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arobynsung/pseuds/arobynsung
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When honesty is unbearable and lies are unforgivable, where is the middle ground?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unforgivable

_Crucio._  
_  
_It was a double wedding.

The thought made Ginny dizzy with nausea and revulsion. Her head lifted to watch her mum's reflection in the mirror as she bustled around fussing over everything, not really affecting much except to make Ginny incredibly annoyed. Ginny could only breathe a sigh of relief when she left to fuss over something else outside.

She looked down at the dress she wore, it was in the muggle style, a tribute to Harry and Hermione's muggle heritage.

Hermione.

Now that thought did more than just annoy her. The brunette was in the next room, preparing for her own wedding. The thought that by the end of the day Hermione would effectively become her sister made Ginny thankful that she had foregone breakfast, much to the dismay of her mother of course, but anything heavier than water would have been lost by the end of the day.

A knock at her door startled her out of her thoughts, muscles in her shoulders and back now aching from the continued increase in tension.

"Come in," she called to whoever was outside the door, wincing at the rawness in her throat from crying herself to sleep the night before.

A dark-red haired head poked through, "Is the bride decent?"

Ginny gave a bitter laugh in response, "I'm encased in lace and taffeta, define decent."

Charlie laughed, his much warmer, as he came in to the room completely.

He paused, his concentration on the vision his baby sister made in her wedding gown. "You look beautiful," he breathed, trying to ignore his throat closing up and the sudden impulse to throttle Harry for forcing him to relinquish his view of Ginny as the little girl he used to carry around on his back.

She did however, Charlie was loathe to admit, look beautiful and all grown up, womanhood suited her. Her hair caught the golden rays of sunlight so that it seemed to burn steadily, strands of gold appearing with each slight movement. He admitted that the muggle off-white gown suited her form, making her pale skin look like porcelain, hard but fragile, it's design accentuating her slight form and flaring out from the waist dramatically in a wave over brilliant crystal beading sown into the taffeta and lace on her bodice and train.

"Stop that, I feel ridiculous enough as it is."

Charlie frowned, "Ginny-"

Ginny lifted a hand to stop the lecture that was sure to come, "-No, Charlie. Don't say anything about ... just don't."

Charlie looked ready to fight, after all this was his baby sister's happiness, what big brother wouldn't fight for it, but he also understood the depths of Ginny's stubbornness, she got it from their mum.

He conceded with a nod and faked a smile at her.

She faked one right back, adding a roll of her eyes and a snort.

He didn't miss the abject pain in her eyes and he rushed to embrace her wishing he had the power to stop her pain. They remained that way, until Arthur came to walk her to the rest of her life.

-

Stifling.

The dress was too tight, the sun was too bright, there were too many people, and her smile _hurt_. There was something irrevocably painful about faking a smile throughout your wedding, when all you wanted to do was scream obscenities at the absolute ridiculousness of the situation.

Ridiculousness, was that even a word?

Hermione stifled a sigh, the sun was obviously getting to her.

Or maybe it was the way that Ron's grin seemed to split his face, making him look like a manic fool who'd just gotten the key to all his dreams.

Not able to stand the complete and honest love in her future husband's face, Hermione turned to look at the audience. In the front, absolutely _losing _it, were her parents. Hermione didn't think she'd ever seen her dad cry so much, come to think of it, she'd never seen him cry, even when they had been re-united after the war. Now he was bawling, both her parents were, between them they were up to six soggy handkerchiefs.

Again, honest love. Unbearable.

She chanced a look at the other bride in this farce.

Ginny looked cold.

Nothing betrayed that she was really a pronounced, vivacious, fiery lioness. In fact it seemed that with every word read by the old Priestess overseeing their bonding, a bit of the redhead faded away.

It broke Hermione's heart to know that she had a definite hand in that.

Dishonest love - more passion and intensity than she ever wished for.

Hermione turned back to Ron, who was looking at the Priestess, silently begging her to rush through the ceremony so he could be officially married to his first and only love.

Or maybe it was the fact that she knew that what she felt for Ginny was the only truly bare bones honest thing in her life right now.

_Imperio_.

The Priestess called on the heads of the families to come forward to bless the children and Hermione silently apologised to Arthur Weasley for hurting his only daughter so badly, and lying to his youngest son, marrying him for convenience not true love.

Words couldn't describe Hermione's revulsion with herself at that moment.

He smiled at her, a welcoming smile - oblivious to Hermione's painful thoughts - he considered her a second daughter, if only he knew how much she was betraying her adopted family. She leaned into her own father's hand at her back as he repeated the words of blessing over her union with Ron. How much she wished she could yank her hands from Ron's firm but gentle hold and dive into her daddy's arms and beg him to forgive her.

A rope of pure white light wrapped itself around each of the couple's arms and Hermione forced herself to pay attention to the ceremony.

"Do you take each other in life, love, and respect. Promising to protect and nurture, binding your lives in magic and soul, forever entwined as blessed by the gods?"

Harry and Ron accepted, their words breathed softly and full of excitement and promise, followed immediately by a dead and emotionless affirmation by Ginny. In the space of a moment's hesitation, Hermione's mind ran through the past year and the knowledge that this was her last chance for truth.

She didn't take it, instead answering, "Yes" softly, as if the reason for her silent hesitation was as a result of being overtaken by the strong emotion the occasion demanded.

The rope of light tightened around their hands, exerting a slight pressure before sinking into their skin. Suddenly, Hermione could feel Ron's soul and magic, as if it were within her, inhabiting her body with her.

Hermione knew that Ginny must feel Harry in her also, maybe even more so because of the strength of his magic. She wondered if the redhead also wanted to crawl out of her skin at the sensation.

And that was it. The ceremony ended, and a wave of dead calm fell on Hermione.

She'd just signed her life away to average, to normal.

It was just as she'd expected, it felt like a duty, an obligation she'd fulfilled.

She smiled into the kiss Ron gave her and at the crowd thereafter as they stood in ovation, applauding her lies and dedication to duty above self.

And at the reception as her eyes met Ginny's for the first time that day, Hermione tried uselessly to stop her heart from breaking at the empty brown eyes.

_Avada Kedavra._


End file.
